Top Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

I believe in happiness. I think no matter how much money or love or success you have in life, it means nothing unless you’re happy. It’s the random bouquet of flowers from your boyfriend, the afternoons you play hookie from school and spend driving around with your best friend or the rare family dinners you get to participate in that mean something. It’s watching your child grow up; doing stupid things and living to tell the tale and making a difference in someone’s life that really give people a sense of worth. I believe without happiness, you’ve got nothing.

I know what being unhappy feels like and during that period of time I wanted nothing more than to smile for no reason. I spent months sitting in my room alone, my health dwindling, I watched friends walk out the door because I never felt like going out and having fun and I watched my mother cry at night because she didn’t know how to “fix” me. Unhappiness is a disease and unfortunately it comes and goes as it pleases without giving you a say in the matter. Sure, there are pills you can take to release some endorphins and stuff but nothing will ever cure it.

So live as long as you’re supposed to, laugh as much as possible, and love as deeply and passionately as your heart will let you. You can’t buy happiness no matter what any rich kid tells you. It’s something you feel and something you should definitely cherish because not everyone has it. That’s why it’s so important to me, because I remember what it felt like without it. I believe in smiling for no reason and I believe in happiness.

Essay of the Week

When she was young, Lauren LeBlanc had grand dreams of living in New York and singing on Broadway. Instead, she became a mom and schoolteacher in suburbia. While it’s not the life she once imagined, LeBlanc now knows she wouldn’t have it any other way. Click here to read her essay.